Thoughts On: The Power Rangers By Adi Shankar...Next Level...

           Many of us grew up with the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers...but not like this. Producer Adi Shankar (The Grey, Dredd, etc) put together a small bootleg film about what happened to the Rangers after the Machine Empire (they came after Lord Zedd, remember?) invades Earth. It shows Kimberly being interrogated by Rocky (the 2nd Red Ranger) who, after betraying the Rangers to work for the Empire, is looking for Tommy (the Green Ranger). Over the course of Kimberly's interrogation, the film shows the ultimate fates of every Ranger...

Even I want that new Pink Ranger helmet...

The Opening Combat Scene:
...We got to see the original Rangers in combat with Zords no less. The style definitely reminded me of Cloverfield...and Tommy's body shield looked so much better then I remember it...

The Original Ranger's:

Jason nooooooo...

I'm recapping incase the video's down by the time you read this...your welcome. Jason marry's Kimberly and is killed in a shootout caused by Bulk and Skull (who betray them, to the Empire). Billy (Blue Ranger) is a billionaire and committed suicide. Trini,(Yellow
Ranger), died before all this (all the rangers attend her funeral). Zack (Black Ranger) gets rich off work out videos, works for the

government, and is killed by an unknown assailant.

The PTSD:
Watching the Rangers as a kid made me want to be one...but if you think about it, what they went through would have been
traumatizing. The grit of this movie shows how dark and difficult their lives got as a result of becoming a ranger...which was very interesting to see. Zack with his drugs, Tommy's homeless look, Rocky with his bionic leg...

Now I really want to be the Green Ranger...

This Was The Watchmen, but with Rangers:
The whole movie was kind of a giant nod to The Watchmen. The ongoing flashbacks, the grit, the violence, and especially the scene of all the rangers at Trini's funeral...reminded me of the Comedians funeral...The rest was a combination of Kill Bill (Jason's death scene), Minority Report (all the swiping Rocky did) and any Michael Bay film...and the way Tommy said, "who are you!" sounded like Batman saying, "where is he!"

Rita's Cameo:
Considering we live in a world where little in movies surprises us these days...I didn't see this one coming. Kimberley had been dead all along and was actually Rita (who is responsible for all the Rangers deaths). The special effects on her scene weren't great (and they could have made her look older), but considering this is a bootleg, I'm happy with it...

           I can understand how many fans wouldn't like this version of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, what with all the violence and language. However, considering how thoughtful many of the nods were to the original series, I have to say... I'm hoping Adi cranks out a sequel....Watch it while you still can...